Just in case you thought the housing crisis was behind us … some factoids:
Underwater Mortgages
Most U.S. homeowners still have some equity, and nearly 24 million owner-occupied homes don’t have any mortgage.
But, the proportion of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than the properties are worth has swelled to about 23%.
Nearly 10.7 million households had negative equity in their homes.
5.3 million U.S. households are tied to mortgages that are at least 20% higher than their home’s value.
Homeowners in Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California are more likely to be deeply under water. In Nevada, for example, nearly 30% of borrowers owe 50% or more on their mortgage than their home is worth.
More than 40% of borrowers who took out a mortgage in 2006 — when home prices peaked — are under water.
Even recent bargain hunters have been hit: 11% of borrowers who took out mortgages in 2009 already owe more than their home’s value.
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Mortgage Delinquencies
About 7.5 million households were 30 days or more behind on their mortgage payments or in foreclosure.
Mortgage troubles are not limited to the unemployed. About 588,000 borrowers defaulted on mortgages last year even though they could afford to pay — more than double the number in 2007.
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House Sales & Starts
Sales of previously occupied homes in October jumped 10.1% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million, the highest since February 2007.
Realtors reported that home sales in October were up 24% from a year earlier.
The number of homes listed for sale nationwide was 3.57 million at the end of October, down 3.7% from a month earlier.
Jittery home builders and bad weather led to a 10.6% drop in new home starts in October.
Excerpt from WSJ: One in Four Borrowers Is Under Water, Nov. 24, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125903489722661849.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEADNewsCollection
The Homa Files 
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